Longing

Dear Reader,

Most of my books are set in England. But this one is set in my native Wales, and I immediately felt a change in myself, a heightened emotional involvement, as I wrote it. Wales is a land of hills and mountains, sea and cliffs, its own ancient language and culture, a deep spirituality, and music. Always music—the harp, church congregations singing in full harmony, choirs, particularly male voice choirs, often in the past made up of coal miners. Just the thought of it all can bring me to tears. Most of the Welsh coal mines are gone now, but there was a time when they dominated and blackened the countryside along the beautiful river valleys of South Wales.

Longing
, my first all-Welsh book, originally published in 1995, has always been very precious to me. It is set in one of the coal-mining valleys in the first half of the nineteenth century, at a time when the owners were almost all wealthy Englishmen and life for the Welsh workers was hard, to say the least. Many of them became involved in the doomed Chartist movement to improve their living and working and political conditions.

The Marquess of Craille is a new owner, having only recently inherited and come to Wales. Siân Jones is the illegitimate daughter of an owner but has deliberately identified with the workers. She is the widow of a miner and is now engaged to the leader of the local Chartist movement. She is soon caught in the middle of a conflict between two men who seem destined to be natural enemies.

A common theme through the book is music, in particular the Welsh song “Hiraeth,” roughly translated “Longing,” that soul-deep yearning we all feel for our homeland and what is beyond our reach and our full understanding. The story is a deeply felt piece of the history of my own people and a passionate love story between two people for whom a future together seems an impossibility.

I do hope you will love this book as much as I always have.

 

Mary Balogh

Longing

“Balogh capture[s] the allure of the land and the culture of the proud people of Wales . . . a very different sort of historical romance. Ms. Balogh's writing has a very lyrical quality to it, which draws out the feelings of yearning so the the reader can palpably sense them . . . pretty powerful.”

—The Hope Chest Reviews

“A particular favorite of mine.”

—The Romance Reader

Beyond the Sunrise

“Thoroughly enjoyable.”

—
New York Times
bestselling author Janelle Taylor

“Balogh's . . . epic love story is a winner . . . absorbing reading right up until the end.”

—Publishers Weekly

“High intrigue, daring exploits, a passionate love affair, what more could you want in a romance? Balogh gives us a humdinger of a tale set during the Napoleonic Wars. Great fun. Highly recommended.”

—
Manderley Magazine

“
Beyond the Sunrise
is an utterly absorbing, powerful tale of a love that was once doomed and yet blooms again amidst the intrigue and ordeal of war. With infinite care and deft plotting, Ms. Balogh spins an intricate tale with the skill of a master weaver. She draws you into the era by evoking the aura of the war and the passionate emotions of her characters. If you have never read another book by Mary Balogh, then
Beyond the Sunrise
will be your introduction to a writer of remarkable talents.”

—RT Reviews

FURTHER PRAISE FOR
AWARD-WINNING AUTHOR MARY BALOGH

“Once you start a Mary Balogh book, you won't be able to stop reading.”

—
New York Times
bestselling author Susan Elizabeth Phillips

“Mary Balogh has the gift of making a relationship seem utterly real and utterly compelling.”

—Mary Jo Putney

“Winning, witty, and engaging . . . fulfilled all of my romantic fantasies.”

—
New York Times
bestselling author Teresa Medeiros

“Mary Balogh just keeps getting better and better . . . interesting characters and great stories to tell . . . well worth your time.”

—The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

“Mary Balogh is a superb author whose narrative voice comments on the characters and events of her novel in an ironic tone reminiscent of Jane Austen.”

—Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

“Mary Balogh reaches deep and touches the heart.”

—
New York Times
bestselling author Joan Johnston

“A writer whose books belong on every romance shelf.”

—RT Reviews

THE SURVIVORS' CLUB SERIES

The Proposal

The Arrangement

The Escape

Only Enchanting

THE HUXTABLE SERIES

First Comes Marriage

Then Comes Seduction

At Last Comes Love

Seducing an Angel

A Secret Affair

THE SIMPLY SERIES

Simply Unforgettable

Simply Love

Simply Magic

Simply Perfect

THE BEDWYN SAGA

Slightly Married

Slightly Wicked

Slightly Scandalous

Slightly Tempted

Slightly Sinful

Slightly Dangerou

THE BEDWYN PREQUELS

One Night for Love

A Summer to Remember

THE MISTRESS TRILOGY

More Than a Mistress

No Man's Mistress

The Secret Mistress

THE WEB SERIES

The Gilded Web

Web of Love

The Devil's Web

CLASSICS

The Ideal Wife

The Secret Pearl

A Precious Jewel

A Christmas Promise

Dark Angel/ Lord Carew's Bride

The Famous Heroine/ The Plumed Bonnet

A Christmas Bride/ Christmas Beau

The Temporary Wife/ A Promise of Spring

A Counterfeit Betrothal/ The Notorious Rake

Irresistible

A Matter of Class

Under the Mistletoe

Beyond the Sunrise

Heartless

Silent Melody

Signet Eclipse

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Published by Signet Eclipse, an imprint of New American Library, a division of Penguin Group (USA) LLC. Previously published in a Topaz edition.

Copyright © Mary Balogh, 1994

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CATALOGING
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UBLICATION DATA:

Balogh, Mary.

Longing/Mary Balogh.

p. cm.

ISBN 978-0-698-15632-6

1. Man-woman relationships—Fiction.

2. Triangles (Interpersonal relations)—Fiction.

I. Title.

PR6052.A465L66 2015

823'.914dc23 2014035239

PUB
LISHER'S NOTE

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

For my younger daughter

Siân

(pronounced Shahn)

whose name I have used as the heroine

of this, my Welsh book,

with
love